West and Torgovnick

A detailed Summary of West and Torgovnick

West and Torgovnick: Manichean Ideologies

Both Cornel West and Marianna De Marco Torgovnick

discuss the idea of supremacy, Manichean theologies, and

authoritarian behavior in their essays. However, they deal

with these ideas differently and for different reasons. In

West's essay, "Malcolm X and Black Rage", he explains Mal¬

colm X's views on how to transfer black rage in such a way

that it would reject supremacy. In Torgovnick's essay, "On

Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst", she writes

how her hometown held supremacist ideas and how this af¬

fected her. West is still pursuing the goal of black free¬

dom by looking into the past, especially Malcolm X's writ¬

ings. Whereas, Torgovnick kind of runs away from things and

refers to living in Bensonhurst as having "simultaneously

choking and nutritive power. This difference is mainly due

because West wants to try to make things better, while

Torgovnick leaves her hometown feeling that she needs to

Torgovnick writes about supremacist ideas in her cul¬

tural background. For example, she says, "Italian Americans

in Bensonhurst are notable for their cohesiveness and pro¬

vinciality; the slightest pressure turns those qualities

ideologies; blacks against whites. As a result, there will

sitions toward reality suspicious of 'either/or' viewpoints,

says the blacks weren't supposed to be there. His reason

its values are the only values; it tends to towards certain

Approximate Word count = 901
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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